


The Other Side

by E_Gotta_Blast



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Beca is a producer and songwriter, Both are clueless lesbians, Chloe is a veterinarian, Emily is the cute dork she always is, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Post-Pitch Perfect 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:40:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24272959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/E_Gotta_Blast/pseuds/E_Gotta_Blast
Summary: It's been two and a half years since they last saw eachother and another four years of being oblivious to the love blooming in their relationship. Beca Mitchell, now a famous prodcucer and songwriter, needs a new hit to keep herself in buisness. Inspiration strikes her and when Chloe hears it on the radio, she realizes the song is about her.Inspired soley by Tonight Alive's song "The Other Side"
Relationships: Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 12
Kudos: 81





	The Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> This entire fic is inspired soley on Tonight Alive's song "The Other Side." 
> 
> I recommend giving it a listen before and after you read to get the full effect. :)

Beca had never been inspired by...anything really. It was hard to produce music when everything tasted so stale all the time. She couldn't explain it, really, just that it felt like there was a smothering bubble of grey following her everywhere she went. 

It was ridiculous. 

Her last hit had been with Emily two and a half years ago...she had no idea how she was still in the business to be honest. She did know, however, that she needed something fresh...needed something that would make the industry explode with color and flavor. 

The only thing that had ever sparked a flame in her broken attic of a heart filled with cobwebs were those stunning blue eyes that never ceased to appear in her dreams. They followed her everywhere she went, watched her shop for fruit in the market and studied her when Beca broke down crying at 2am. 

It was like she was constantly drowning and when her vision had reached it's darkest points, a slender, girlish hand would reach down and pull her up - leaving Beca only a few seconds before shoving her back in again. 

Just when it got to be too much, that soft voice would tell her that everything was going to be okay - and then the voice would tear her down a second later. 

Beca was sick of it. She was sick of living her life as a prisoner. She knew it was ridiculous, people fall in love all the time and have things shift for the worse. 

But she just couldn't shake those thoughtful eyes, those kind hands, and that silky voice. 

Which is why Beca decided to put all of her frustrations and helplessness into lyrics. 

The process was painful.

In order to write a song about love and that person who you were in love with, you would have to revisit every moment that made your heart swell for them - which is exactly what Beca had been suppressing for two and a half years. 

But 14 hours, 3 cans of Monster, and a google search for surrounding therapists later...she had finally made a decent track. She got Emily to play backup guitar, Jesse to lead with drums, and together, they made a verse full of hopeful strings and a broken chorus of electric guitar and constant smashes of drumming. 

Beca wasn't one for love songs...or rock music for that matter. This definitely wasn't her style - but it was a new taste her fans and the industry were craving. 

Days later, her single was released under the tile of "The Other Side." The track spiked instantly and she was back on the billboards again. 

"Did you consider the possibility that Chloe would hear this on the radio?" Emily asked late one night at Beca's loft to celebrate the single's release. 

Beca sipped at the beer in her hand after watching the sweat roll down its neck. "Yeah, I doubt that she'll think it's about her though." 

Emily chuckled from behind the wine glass and gave her an if-you-say-so look. 

In all seriousness, Chloe had better things to do than listen to a dying goose squawk on about her lost love. The redhead was a busy and very successful woman and actually had a bright future ahead of her - unlock Beca who was sinking faster than the titanic. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Goodnight Chloe!" 

The fiery haired woman smiled thoughtfully at the taller woman getting in the car across the parking lot. "Goodnight Bridgette, see you tomorrow!"

She slung her purse in the passenger seat and slid into the car. With an exhausted sigh, she glanced down disdainfully at her wrinkled scrubs. "I better be getting a promotion after all that fantastic work I did." 

Her muscles ached, her temples throbbed, and her feet felt like they were going to pop off any second. 

She was pretty sure she could settle on not moving for literally the rest of the year. 

Once she turned her car on, another wave of misery hit her when she read the time. 

_ 00:19 _

"Oh,  _ god -"  _

Chloe let out an exasperated cry and threw her head back into the seat. She had been on the clock since five am - FIVE AM. And she still had another hour drive home. 

The only way she was going to be able to get through this was through a little bit of tunes - but this called for her special jam, her  _ lady jam.  _

Just when she was about to hit the bluetooth button, she noticed a certain name mentioned on the radio, the radio she hadn't even realized was on. 

"I must say, this lady has really outdone herself this time, Clara. It's a much different sound than the last one." 

"I agree, Max! Well, here you go people, Beca Mitchell's new single, "The Other Side." 

Chloe should have been embarrassed by how fast her hand reached for the volume tuner, but that was quickly replaced with the soft strumming of a guitar that she  _ knew  _ Beca was playing. 

When the brunette's voice filled the speakers, a certain warmth flowed through Chloe. 

_ God.  _ It had been so long since she felt this way. So long since she felt so endlessly lost in music and in Beca's voice. 

Slowly, as Chloe listened intently to the music before her, she realized that the situations Beca was singing about seemed all too familiar. 

Chloe not having her license in college when they first met...lying under sunsets after Bella rehearsals...Beca drying Chloe's hair and it becoming a routine almost every night. But then at the end, she finished with two words that surprised her. 

_ "Just friends."  _

Next, the slowing building verse exploded into a symphony of desperate and broken strums of guitar and clashes of drums. 

" _ Cause every time I ran, I ran to you.  _ _ I meant it every time I said I loved you.  _ _ I kiss the thought of you and I -  _ _ I still regret the day that we said goodbye" _

_ "And do you think of me at night?  _ _ I still wish we could've made it right.  _ _ You can't say that I never tried -  _ _ I guess everything seems more clear here on the other side."  _

The chorus decrescendoed and flowed into the next verse. Chloe hung onto every word of Beca's voice where she described seeing Chloe off to her new job as a veterinarian...and the moment where Beca suddenly fled Europe after the Bella's annual get together and calling her once she reached the U.S. Then again at the end of the verse, those same two words played through Chloe's head.

" _ Just friends."  _

The same chorus followed the verse and somehow, it was more heartbreaking this time. 

Chloe was entranced - eyebrows furrowed, eyes wide, and heart pounding as she listened to the guitar solo. 

_ "And there are so many things I wanted to say that I want so much - and you moved away. And I think of all the times that you were right - I wish I could explain."  _

Softer now, after the bridge, Beca resung the chorus before belting out the final rendition of the chorus where her voice shattered the walls of Chloe's heart. She sounded so heartbroken...and Chloe wasn't there to hold her. 

" _ Cause every time I ran, I ran to you.  _ _ I meant it every time I said I loved you.  _ _ I kiss the thought of you and I -  _ _ I still regret the day that we said goodbye." _

_ "And do you think of me at night?  _ _ I still wish we could've made it right.  _ _ You can't say that I never tried -  _ _ I guess everything seems more clear here on the other side."  _

Just when Chloe thought it was over, a final verse blessed her ears. 

_ "And if you're wondering...I'm great.  _ _ I'm stronger now but still the same.  _ _ My love for you it will remain, my friend."  _

Chloe was, for once in her life, speechless. From somewhere in the background, she could hear the automated voice sing the name of the station before playing the next song - but Chloe was still baffled by what she had just heard. 

_ Just friends... _

The words were spoken with a bitterness...spoken so patronizingly that she finally clearly understood them. She finally understood, after all these years, that even though they brushed each other's hair and held each other's hand they still called themselves  _ friends.  _ That even though Chloe always stayed up until Beca got home just to make sure she was safe they were still only  _ friends.  _ That even though when they were walking on a sidewalk, Beca took the place closest to the road to shield Chloe from any automobile danger that it was okay because it was normal - that's just what  _ friends  _ did.

_ Just friends… _

"Becs-" 

A choked sob worked its way up through her body and tore through her throat. Outside, a thunderstorm had settled over the clinic and rain pelted down onto her windshield viscously. With this, nobody was able to see her Emma Pilsbury breakdown from Glee. 

How had she been so clueless?! So damn stubborn?! 

She knew when she kissed Chicago that it wasn't right. It just wasn't right when she turned to see Beca's fallen face, like a kicked puppy, standing by herself in the elevator before she hung her head, walked out, and turned her back on the redhead. 

Chicago had gotten upset when he leaned in for another kiss and Chloe pushed him away - but she didn't care, because it was her Becs and she had hurt the only person in the world that aligned the sun, the moon, and all the stars. Beca had been practically buzzing with excitement after they performed Freedom together - Chloe knew Beca had something to tell her. So why the hell didn't she just  _ fucking _ listen?! 

She pounded the steering wheel with her palm, "Dammit!" 

She had to do something…she had to make it right. 

Chloe brought up the phone that had been loosely dangling in her hand for the past five minutes and began scrolling through her contacts. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why are we playing spin the bottle when there are only two of us?" 

Beca looked up at Emily after she placed the new bottle (the other one shattered when Beca basically hurled it into the side of the cabinet) on the floor. She sighed, "I've already told you, Long Leg Lucy. You're going to hurt Frank's feelings if you ignore him like that." 

Emily scowled from her pillow on the flooring, "I am  _ not  _ kissing the lizard." 

"Bearded dragon." Beca corrected her. "Don't listen to her, Frank. She wouldn't know a good man if he slapped her in the face." 

The dragon cocked his head from inside the luminous terrarium before returning to his lustful eating of kale and raspberries. 

A pillow smashed into the side of Beca's face, "You're so weird!" 

The brunette chucked a nearby pillow at the younger woman, "You're more weird!" 

Emily paused and giggled, "Are you in the second grade or something?" 

A rare expression grew on the shorter woman's face as she laughed- an actual guttural _ , genuine _ , laugh (also rare nowadays) before she threw another pillow in front of her. 

"Ahahaha-" 

Beca chuckled as Emily kicked and flailed under the pillow assault. "Staahhpp- stop! Stop! I surrenderrr!" 

_ Ding dong!  _

Both women stopped, stared at the door, then stared at each other simultaneously. Beca eyed her curiously, asking Emily who it was when she obviously couldn't see through the door. 

_ Ding dong!  _

The two women still continued to stare at the opposing door as if they had never received company in their entire life. 

_ Ding dong!  _

Beca finally processed that she should answer the door rather than stare at it like some crazy old lady with hundreds of cats who have never seen the light of day.

"Wait, what if it's like, a killer or something?" Emily whisper yelled from across the room. 

Beca shrugged and continued her advance towards the door. She had lived longer than she expected anyway. 

When she turned the knob and pulled back, she was sure she had been dreaming. There was no way she was seeing this correctly…

"Chloe?" 

The auburn haired woman smiled softly from behind those brilliant blue eyes... _ damn those eyes- _

"Beca...can I come in?" 

"O-of of course!" 

Beca mentally slapped herself before stepping to the side and closing the door behind her. 

Chloe blinked a few times at the fact that Emily was in here as well. Then those blue eyes flew to the ocean of pillows on the ground and back up to Emily's askew hair. Beca was very suddenly aware of the fact that she was only wearing sweatpants and a sports bra and how absolutely smeared Emily's lipstick was when Beca shoved that pillow in her face. Then there was also the fact that Beca was slightly out of breath because the pillow assault was the most exercise she had gotten in over a month. 

Tousled hair, smeared lipstick, a bed of pillows, shortness of breath, exposed skin... _ oh god.  _

A perfectly trimmed eyebrow raised in Beca's direction and heat flooded to her face. "We-we weren't-" 

Chloe tipped her head and awaited Beca's next words, which never came, but were quickly cut off by the other brunette now standing across the room. 

"I've-I-let me go check the breadsticks!" 

Emily scurried out of the living room and slammed into the door leading to the kitchen. 

There were no breadsticks. 

Beca turned back to the woman next to her, "We seriously weren't-" 

Chloe chuckled and adjusted the collar on her windbreaker, "Chill Beca, it's okay. You're a grown woman, you can sleep with whoever you want." 

Beca was slightly taken aback, but Chloe was right. She was an adult and she shouldn't have to explain herself for anything. "Yeah," Beca edged on, "It's not like you and I are together or anything." 

At this, Chloe flinched and Beca wanted to punch herself. 

"About that...I heard your song." 

Beca furrowed her eyebrows, is that what this is all about?

"Which one?" Beca tried, looking anywhere else but in those intense eyes. 

"You know which one, Becs." 

Beca still refused to look in those eyes - she couldn't. Once she did, it was all over. 

"How did you know it was about you?" 

Chloe sighed, "Beca, really? You literally described all key points in our relationship. How would I not know?" 

_ Oh shit, you dumbass, Chloe's right.  _

Within a matter of seconds, vulnerable Beca disappeared and defensive Beca came thrashing out. 

"How did you even find me? I try to make sure people don't know where I live." Her tone was bitter, and the flash of hurt in Chloe's eyes made Beca want to smash her head against the wall. Why did she always get like this? She couldn't just be a normal person and open up - oh no, that would be too much. 

"Emily helped me out." 

Beca closed her eyes, "Dammit, Emily." 

"Oh-hey-you know what-" Emily's voice came from behind the wall in the hallway where Emily stepped out - which is apparently where she had been listening as well. "-for the love of all! You two have loved each other since Beca's first year in college but both of you have been too damn  _ stubborn _ to admit it! Just freaking get together already! I'm tired of you pining after one other and being clueless lesbians!" 

The room went dead silent except for the fast huffing of Emily who quickly brushed the hair out of her eyes after her explosion. She smoothed her crop top and exhaled slowly, "Please." She added finally. 

It was the truth, Beca knew it was. There was no point in hiding from it. Chloe may not feel the same way right now after all these years, but it wasn't doing her any good in running from it. She learned that much after the release of her new song. 

"Emily's right, Becs." 

The brunette gaped at Chloe like a fish out of water, "She...she is?" 

Chloe ran a steady hand through her fiery locks and opened her mouth to say something that...never quite made it out. 

"But you kissed Chicago and-" 

"I fucked up, okay Beca?!" 

Beca felt herself grow even smaller than she already was at the simple fact that Chloe had just cursed. It was about to get real. 

"I should have realized that we weren't friends after everything we did together. Friends don't just get up early to zap the other some tea every Monday morning because they know that's the hardest day of the week for them. They don't text you goodnight before they go to bed and they sure as hell don't cuddle every night -  _ regardless  _ of whether they had a "bad dream" or not. I can't believe I never saw it - that I was just too stubborn to admit that I-I" 

Chloe stopped abruptly with a short gasp and quickly looked down at Beca's black socks in front of her. The room fell silent again save for the thunderous beating of her heart. 

"You what, Chloe?" Beca asked softly. An unsure hand reached out to grasp the woman's forearm and the brunette was rewarded as a different expression passed over the downcast face. 

The redhead then pulled her lips together in a tight, pained smile but her eyes still remained on Beca's feet as if they were somehow the only thing anchoring her at the moment. "To admit that I loved you...that I still do." 

A tiny gasp emanated from the shorter woman. Beca was surprised... shocked...  _ baffled _ even at those words - so flabbergasted that her hand fell from Chloe's forearm. For four years she had waited to hear those words come from her favorite ginger. For two and a half more years she had waited for someone -  _ anyone _ to say them to her. But now Chloe was in front of her...after all this time...saying that she had always loved Beca and still does. 

_ Chloe loves me.  _

_ Chloe Beale loves me.  _

A muffled sniffle ripped Beca away from her thoughts, "Oh- uh okay, guess I should just leave then." The sight of the back of Chloe's curls filled her vision. 

"No, no, no, no, no - wait!" 

Beca's heart shattered into a million pieces when Chloe turned around to face her. Red-rimmed glacier eyes filled to the brim with tears and a whole lot of  _ pain  _ gazed back at her.

Why would Chloe ever think Beca didn't love her?! 

"Chloe…" Here it comes, for a grand total of six and a half years, this was the moment of truth. "I love you too. Why the hell wouldn't I?!" 

The sweetest smile grew on Chloe's lips and Beca's heart melted at the sight. Those same eyes were staring back at her with a level of intensity that somehow made it feel that their souls were intertwining, growing closer and closer until they molded as one true being. The feeling of it was so raw and vulnerable (something that she would normally hate) and yet she welcomed it with open arms. It was new...it was different...it was  _ Chloe.  _

In the distance, a faint  _ awwww _ from Emily was said amongst the background - but all Beca had the ability to focus on at the moment was the realness of the situation and how soft Chloe's lips were when they landed on her own. The smell of her shampoo and perfume made Beca absolutely fucking  _ weak  _ and she fell into the kiss. 

When it was clear the kissing wasn't going to stop anytime soon, Emily grabbed her keys and stepped around the two reunited women. "Uh, guess I'll just... _ march  _ my way out of here then haha." 

She stopped momentarily to study the women who had forgotten about Emily's presence all together and still, apparently, weren't stopping. In fact, it was going in the very opposite direction - and  _ fast.  _ So she then continued her exit in classic Emily fashion where she hit her head against the door on her way out. 

Chloe pulled back upon hearing the door shut and smiled through blown pupils and a lopsided grin. "I love you so much, Becs." 

Beca huffed from the kiss and delivered another quick peck to the side of the lipstick ridden mouth in front of her. "I love you too, Chlo." 

The smothering cloak of grey that followed Beca through life since the day the two parted was now gone - the truest form of depression  _ finally  _ evaporated and distinguished by the only saving light in Beca's soul. 

_ Chloe Beale.  _

**Author's Note:**

> Frank the bearded dragon is actually a dear pet to one of my friends. He's the cutest thing ever.


End file.
